Combined support and circuit-breaker for conductors.



J. P. DERANEK.

COMBINED SUPPORT AND CIRCUIT BREAKER FOR CONDUGTORS.

APPLICATIONHLED SEPT.28,-l9!4 l,224,365@

Patented May 1, 1917.

WITNESSES dPDERAA/EK.

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aosnrn'r. DERANEK, or EAST s'r. LOUIS, ILLINOIS.

COMBINED SUPPORT AND CIRCUIT-BREAKER, I'on ooivnuorons.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 1, 1917.

Application fiIed'September 28, 1914. Serial No. 863,840.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH P. DERANEK, residing at East St Louis, county of St. Clair, State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Combined Support and Circuit-Breaker for Conductors, of which the following is such a full, clear, and exact description as will enable any one skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

Myinvention relates to a combined support and circuit breaker for conductors and is particularly adapted for use in connection with the trolley Wires of electric railways. It may, however, be used in connection with any electrical conductor carrying .a dangerous charge of electricity.

The object of my invention is'to provide a support and circuit breaker in which the current will be automatically cut off from the conductor'the instant when a conductor is broken, thereby preventing the danger to life and property which is occasioned by the'dropping' of a charged conductor.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one form of apparatus made in accordance with my invention, Figure 1 is a side elevation, the protecting hood being omitted; Fig.2 is a view but looking from the opposite side and showing the hood in position; Fig. 3 is a bottom plan View; Fig. 4 is an enlarged section taken on the lines 4-4 of Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 6 is an enlarged section taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 1.

Like marks of reference refer to similar parts in the several views of the drawings.

10 represents a supporting member made of any suitable insulating material. This supporting member has secured to its upper edge a yoke 11. This yoke 11 is connected to any suitable source of current supply by means of a threaded rod 12 and an insulating sleeve 13. A protecting hood 14 is preferablysecured in position between the upper end of the yoke 11 and the sleeve 13, the object of this hood being to protect the parts of the device from rain and snow. A conducting strip 15 is carried by the yoke 11 and is connected by a screw 16 with a block 17 arranged on the opposite similar to Fig. 1

side of the supporting member 10 from the strip 15. This block 17 forms one member of a switch for controlling the supply of current from the yoke 11 to the conductor as will be hereinafter more fully described. Mounted on the lower edge of the supporting member 10 are a pair of members 18, each of which is adapted to have secured to it one end of a trolley wire 19 by means of a locking pin 20. The trolley wire 19 lies in a groove 1n the lower edge of the memberv 18, as best'shown in Fig. 6, so as to form an uninterrupted track for the passage of the trolley wheel. Each of the members 18 is secured to the supporting member 10 by means of a pair of pins 21 passing through slots 22 so as to allow of a limited sliding movement between the members 10 and 18 in the direction'of the length of the trolley Wire 19. 23 is an arm pivotally mounted on a pin 24 and carrying a brush 25 which is adapted to be moved into contact with the block 17 as best shown in the left hand end of Fig. 2, when the parts are in their normal positions, so as to make a good electric contact "between the arm and the block. Mounted on the arm 23 is a downwardly projecting lug 26 engaging with a pair of lugs 27 carried on-the member 18. It will be evident that by this construction, the arm 23 is moved into and out of contact with the block 27 by means of longitudinal movement of the member 18. The arm 23 is connected with the member 18 by means of a flexible conductor 28 so that the said parts are always in good electrical contact. Carried on the opposite side of the member 10 from the arm 23 is a block 30 to which is secured a strong spring 31 bearing upon the lug 32 carried on the member 18. The obj ect of this spring is to move the member 18 into the position shown at the left hand end of Fig. 1 when the tension on the trolley wire 19 is released. The member 18 is also provided with a lug or projection 33 adapted to be engaged by a dog 34 provided with a spring 35 bearing on the projecting end of the pin 24, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4.

Projecting down between the ends of the members 18 is a portion 36 of the supporting member 10. This portion 36, as well as the inner ends of the members 18 is preferably cut at an angle, as shown in Fig. 3, so that while the members are kept at suflicient distance apart to prevent the arcing of the current across them, the trolley wheel will be so supported by the members that there will be little or no wear upon the said downwardly projecting part 36. The pins 21 and 24 are preferably held in position by means of cotter pins 37.

The operation of my device is as follows:

When the parts are in their normal position, the members 18 will be held in the position shown upon the right hand end of Fig. 1 and on the left hand end of Fig. 2 so that the brushes 25 are in contact with the block 17 and, consequently, the trolley wire 19 will be supplied with current from the source of supply. At the instant, however, when one of the trolley wires 19 breaks, the spring 31 will force the member 18 into the position shown at the left hand end of Fig. 1 and at the right hand end of Fig. 2. This movement of the member 18 will swing the arm 23 on its pivot, thus causing the brush 25 to be raised out of contact with the block 17, as shown at the right hand end of Fig. 2, and, consequently breaking the connection between the source of supply and the wire so that the wire is immediately converted from a live wire into a dead one. At the same time the dog 34 drops behind the lug 33, as shown at the left hand end of Fig. 1, and thus permanently locks the switch in its open position so that the current cannot be again supplied to the wire 19 by any accidental tension of the wire 19. When, however, the wire has been repaired, the dog 34 can be raised by any suitable tool so as to allow the parts to resume their normal position and cation with the source of current supply.

Having fully described my invention,

again bring the wire into communiwhat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patent of the United States is:

1. The combination with a member, of a conductor carried by said member and having movement relative thereto, a source of current supplyfor said conductor, a switch a source of current supply for the conductor,

a switch controlling the source of supply, said switch being actuated by the movement of said conductor relative to said supporting member, and means for automatically looking said switch in its open position.

3. The combination with a supporting member, of a conductor carried by said memher and having sliding movement relative thereto, a source of current supply for said conductor, a member pivoted to said supporting member and controlled by the move ment of said conductor, an arm carried by said latter named member and forming a switch for automatically cutting off the supply from said conductor, and means for locking said arm in position to break the current.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and aflixed my seal in the presence of the two subscribing witnesses.

W. A. ALEXANDER, G. M. SHORE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner 01' Patents.

' Washington, I). G. 

